Longannet Mine

NS98NW 65 centred 9450 8625

Location formerly entered as NS 945 863.

For (associated) Longannet Power Station (centred NS 9520 8530), see NS98NE 40.

(Location cited as NS 9454 8622). LONGANNET MINE

Previous Owners: National Coal Board

Types of Coal: Upper Hirst

Sinking Commenced: 1964

Production Commenced: 1969

Year Closed: 2002

Average Workforce: 56

Peak Workforce: 60

Peak Year: 1987

Shaft/Mine Details: surface mine

Other Details: Directly served Longannet Power Station, and was the main arterial tunnel (containing a cable belt conveyor) connecting the power station with the outstations at Bogside [NS98NE 193], Castlebridge [NS99SW 41], Castlehill [NS99SE 5] and Solsgirth [NS99SE 6] collieries. Following the closure of Bogside, Castlebridge and Solsgirth, new driveage began in 1999 to exploit the coals under the River Forth near Airth. After experiencing worsening geological difficulties, the mine was flooded after the failure of a dam in 2002, and subsequently closed.

M K Oglethorpe 2006.

The Longannet Complex (NS 945 863) commenced production in 1969, closing in 2002. Mining the Upper Hirst coal, it comprised Bogside [NS98NE 193], Castlebridge [NS99SW 41], Castlehill [NS99SE 5], Solsgirth [NS99SE 6] and Longannet Mine [NS98NW 65] collieries, directly serving Longannet Power Station and designed to supply 10,160 tons of coal per day. The 8.8km tunnel between Solsgirth and Longannet contained what was claimed to be the longest underground conveyor belt in the world at the time. It was described as a blueprint for modern mining, and many aspects of the development were duplicated elsewhere in the UK (e.g. Selby), and overseas. Despite geological problems, its miners regularly broke productivity records for output from single faces. The last deep coal mine in Scotland, it closed after a catastrophic flood in April 2002.

M K Oglethorpe 2006.